Homeland, season 3

Cast and characters

Main

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA intelligence officer assigned to the Counterterrorism Center

Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine Sergeant and a Marine Scout Sniper who was rescued by Delta Force after being held by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war for eight years

Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn, a CIA black ops SOG/SAD operative

Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody, Nicholas Brody's wife

Jackson Pace as Chris Brody, Nicholas Brody's son

Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody, Nicholas Brody's daughter

Sarita Choudhury as Mira Berenson, Saul's estranged wife

Tracy Letts as Senator Andrew Lockhart, a skeptic of the CIA leading the committee investigating the Langley bombing

F. Murray Abraham as Dar Adal, a retired black ops specialist

Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson, the Acting Director of the CIA and Carrie's old boss and mentor

Recurring

James Rebhorn as Frank Mathison, Carrie's father

Tim Guinee as Scott Ryan, CIA special ops chief

Sam Underwood as Leo Carras, Dana's boyfriend who she met in rehab

Gary Wilmes as Dr. Troy Richardson, a psychiatrist helping Dana cope with recent events

Nazanin Boniadi as Fara Sherazi, a Persian international banking analyst who joins the CIA

Jason Butler Harner as Paul Franklin, an associate at a law firm representing clients with terrorist ties

David Marciano as Virgil Piotrowski, Carrie's trusted surveillance expert

Maury Sterling as Max Piotrowski, Virgil's brother

Shaun Toub as Majid Javadi, the Iranian Deputy Intelligence Chief who financed the Langley bombing

William Abadie as Alain Bernard, an international journalist

William Sadler as Mike Higgins, the White House Chief of Staff

Special guest

Navid Negahban as Abu Nazir, a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda.

Chris Chalk as Tom Walker, a U.S. Marine who was captured along with Brody

Guest

Amy Morton as Erin Kimball, Carrie's lawyer

Pedro Pascal as David Portillo, a U.S. Senator

Joanna Merlin as Lois, Chris and Dana's grandmother

Amy Hargreaves as Maggie Mathison, Carrie's sister and a psychiatrist

David Aaron Baker as Dr. Harlan

Stephen Schnetzer as Dr. Maloney

Manny Pérez as El Niño, a mercenary in Caracas with CIA ties

Martina García as Esme, El Niño's daughter

Erik Todd Dellums as Dr. Graham, a doctor operating in Caracas who treats Brody

Marcia DeBonis as Abby

Jennifer Marsala as Amanda Lambert

Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Faber, a U.S. Marine Major (formerly Captain). He was Nicholas's best friend who, assuming Nicholas was dead, began an affair with his wife.

Martin Donovan as Leland Bennett, a partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm

Stephanie J. Block as Patricia Cooper, a lawyer

Mary Apick as Fariba, Majid Javadi's ex-wife

Billy Smith as FBI Special Agent Hall

Clark Johnson as Detective Johnson

Vincent Irizarry as Captain Lonza

Production

On October 22, 2012, Homeland was renewed for a third season, consisting of 12 episodes, which premiered on September 29, 2013.

Production for the third season began in late May 2013, continuing in Charlotte, North Carolina. The series also filmed in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, which stood in for Caracas, Venezuela. The series was also planning on returning to Israel for additional filming, but filming moved to Morocco, due to ongoing conflicts in Syria.

The third season has three previous guest actors–Rupert Friend, F. Murray Abraham and Sarita Choudhury–promoted to series regulars. Tracy Letts joined the cast playing Senator Andrew Lockhart, Chairman of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as a series regular. Diego Klattenhoff and David Marciano, who portray Mike Faber and Virgil, do not return as series regulars, but return in a recurring capacity.

Barbara Hall joined as co-executive producer, after Meredith Stiehm left. James Yoshimura also joined as a writer and consulting producer. Writer Henry Bromell, who died on March 18, 2013, is credited as executive producer for the whole season. Lesli Linka Glatter, who directed the season 2 episode "Q&A", and former 24 co-executive producer and writer Patrick Harbinson both joined as co-executive producer. Michael Klick, who was credited as producer in the first two seasons, was promoted to co-executive producer. Claire Danes became a producer beginning with the third season. Former series writer Meredith Stiehm rejoined the writing staff near the end of the third season, including co-writing the season finale, after departing Homeland to write for her new TV series The Bridge. Stiehm will continue with the series through the fourth season and potential fifth season as well.

Reception

Ratings

In its third season, Homeland became the first series on Showtime to surpass seven million total viewers weekly. The season finale, "The Star", was the highest rated episode of the series to date, with 2.38 million viewers for the original broadcast.

Critical response

The third season received mixed reviews from critics, with many of the criticisms targeted at the second half. The first two episodes received a Metacritic score of 77 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, but reviews became more mixed as the season progressed. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 80% with an average score of 7.9 out of 10 based on 40 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "As the stakes get higher, Homeland remains a roller coaster ride of tension, and Claire Danes is riveting in one of the best written thrillers on television."

Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the first two episodes of the season restored his faith in the series, with the emphasis on Carrie and Saul, and that "the writing and acting in the first two episodes are exceptional." Robert Rorke of Newsday wrote that "the third-season premiere Homeland delivers a strong episode that repairs much of the damage done last season to this excellent show" and "In balancing action with character development, Homeland offers something for everyone. The performances, as usual, are excellent." Robert Bianco of USA Today praised the focus on the aftermath of the CIA bombing, and wrote "The result of that change of focus is a return that's quieter than the tone Homeland set when it left us but just as intense, and—when Danes is on screen—just as emotionally wrenching." Matthew Wolfson of Slate wrote "Showing us the long-term impact of the attack on the lives of these characters, whose deep-seated motivations and fears have gradually been revealed to us over the last two seasons, allows Homeland to transcend its tendencies toward the hyperbolic and gives us a reason to suspend our disbelief."

However, some critics had negative reviews for the season. Morven Crumlish of The Guardian found it tedious: "A half-absorbed piece of fiction will leave the characters floundering in their mid-arc torpor. With no end in sight, though, Carrie and Brody can flounder without me." Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph agreed: "The ludicrous plot contortions of this season’s early episodes... had all been such a mess."

Awards and nominations

The season was nominated for Best Drama Series for the 2014 Writers Guild of America Awards. For the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble, Claire Danes was nominated for Best Drama Actress, and the series was nominated for Best Stunt Team. For the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, Claire Danes was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Mandy Patinkin was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Home media release

Homeland: The Complete Third Season was released as a widescreen region 1 four-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray box set in the United States and Canada on September 9, 2014. In addition to the 12 episodes, it includes deleted scenes, audio commentary for "The Star" and two featurettes—"The Tower of David: Filming in Puerto Rico 3" and "The Last Days: Filming the Season Finale". The same set was also released on September 8, 2014, in region 2 and on September 24, 2014, in region 4.

The season is also available for streaming online via Hulu, as of August 1, 2016.